Tri-Service
The Veterans Taking Blindness In Their Stride
The World Pace Sticking Championships at Sandhurst is well underway.
23 teams are taking part, including, for the first time, a team of four from Blind Veterans UK.
Billy Baxter is completely blind and has done his part in the contest. He said:
"We were put to the test... and we did ourselves proud. We gave it our best shot."
Billy got involved in the competition because he realised, while listening to a parade, that he really missed drilling.
Before long Billy was using his muscle memory to excel at pace sticking across the parade ground.
What is a pace stick, you ask?
It was originally used by the Royal Artillery to measure correct distances between guns.
But in 1928 the Army decided to utilise it to measure the perfect distance between steps when marching.
And here at the World Championships, precision is the order of the day.
Other members of the Blind Veterans UK team are Kevin Alderton, Drum Major Tony Taylor, and Steven Birkin.
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
